Start
We started our motorbike trip one rainy morning from Raahe, Finland, about one month ago. After that we have traveled over 5000 km in 16 countries. The first day was toughest as always when I start a journey. After few days you know which items and documents you forgot at home and those you took with have found their place on the luggage. But the first day you keep thinking about people and the world you left behind and even is there any sense in whole trip. Especially if you have to ride 600 km in the chilling 10 degrees rain.
We spend a couple of nights with friends in Turku and then took a ferry to Stockholm to apply for Pakistani visas. The visas are real PIA when planning a long overland trip to Middle East, Indian sub-continent and Central Asia. Some visas are possible to get only from your home country, some are very short and some are almost impossible to get. Of course we started our visa hunt too late, but after Stockholm we had one year multiple entry to Russia, one month to Iran and double entry to Pakistan.
Hill of Crosses in Lithuania
The travel spirit really got us when riding out from the ferry in the harbour of Riga. Sun was shining and we changed our winter gloves to lighter ones. The first stop was the Hill of Crosses near Siuliai, Lithuania, where people started to put up crosses as a silent protest against Soviet depression. Today the place looks like setup of a cemetery in Tim Burton movie. Afternoon rain storms and road works delayed our way and we had to take night break in the Curonian Spit. Next day we arrived Kaliningrad and spent a nice evening out with our wonderful CouchSurfing hosts, Olga and Dmitry.
Autumn was still breathing coldness behind us and after filling up cheap Russian gasoline we rode through Poland without too many stops. In Cracow we did laundry and bought mushrooms from the market and cooked pasta in the hostel. It was nice to live regular life some days. When leaving Cracow Audi lady tested durability of Krauser cases but fortunately they won the clash of the Germans. Autumn let it´s grip in the southern slopes of the Tatras and in Hungary we had a positive problem to fit all the winter gear to luggage.
Countryside of Southern Poland
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